Latest Technology

AcceleDent Aura

AcceleDent® Aura
New breakthroughs in orthodontic technology offer patients accelerated treatment options. Our practice prides itself in offering you the very latest, proven, safe and effective methods for optimal orthodontic care. We offer AcceleDent Aura, a new, simple, hands-free device to help your orthodontic treatment work faster. Ask us if AcceleDent Aura is right for you.

How does AcceleDent Aura work?
By inserting the mouthpiece – fitted around your existing orthodontics – and turning on the activator for 20 minutes every day, AcceleDent Aura can speed up tooth movement by using SoftPulse Technology™. Faster tooth movement may decrease the duration of your orthodontic treatment and can even help to make your orthodontics more comfortable.

How is the orthodontic treatment accelerated?
Your orthodontics work on their own by moving your teeth in specific directions. AcceleDent Aura uses SoftPulse Technology™ to generate small vibrations, or micropulses, enhancing the movements directed by your orthodontics, allowing for faster tooth movement.

Is AcceleDent Aura safe?
Yes. AcceleDent with SoftPulse Technology™ is FDA cleared and has been demonstrated safe and reliable in U.S. clinical trials.

PROPEL®

Dr. Yim offers patients the latest orthodontic advancement that can reduce treatment time on average by 30 to 50 percent. Called PROPEL®, this treatment involves stimulating the bone surrounding the teeth. This enhances the movement of teeth, particularly for difficult orthodontic cases. Effective for patients wearing braces or Invisalign, PROPEL may be ideal for those who need accelerated orthodontic treatment.

TADs

One of the many important advances in orthodontics has been the development of temporary anchorage devices, or TADs. Made of a biocompatible titanium alloy, TADs are miniscrew anchors that are inserted into specific places in the mouth to be used as a fixed point from which teeth can move. Before TADs, orthodontists who wanted to move some teeth while keeping others still, or to achieve orthodontic movement in a mouth with missing teeth, had to rely on headgear for their fixed point. But TADs now provide an option for that fixed point that is smaller, more discrete, more efficient and requires significantly less work for the patient.

Temporary anchorage devices may not be recommended for everyone, and in fact, anchorage devices at all may not be needed in all cases. Contact us if you’d like to know more about TADs and how they can potentially prevent you from needing orthodontic headgear.

Herbst Appliance

One of the most common problems orthodontists treat is the discrepancy that occurs when the upper teeth protrude beyond the lower. Ordinarily, when we see a patient with the upper teeth protruding, we tend to think that the upper jaw and teeth are too far forward; but, more often than not, this condition is due to a small lower jaw that is further back than it should be. With these patients, we would like to encourage the lower jaw to catch up in growth, and braces like the Herbst appliance help this happen.

Even though the Herbst appliance prevents the lower jaw from moving backward, opening and closing movement still occur easily, and patients do not have any problems learning to chew their food with their lower jaw in this new position.

Elastic Therapy

Dr. Yim often uses advanced elastic therapy to create movement. Called “early light short elastics” (ELSE), these tiny bands are used to control the desired tooth movement in both the early and final stages of braces. Used along with a “bite turbo,” ELSE is particularly effective in when the patient has a deep bite. Additionally, ELSE therapy enables treatment to begin on a patient’s upper and lower teeth simultaneously, as the bite turbos protect the lower brackets from coming in contact with those of the upper teeth. ELSE increases the efficiency of treatment. Patients need to wear the elastics full time, 24 hours a day.